KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya spent RM55.443bil on subsidies in 2022, which is an increase of 322.1% or RM42.309bil from the previous year, where subsidies cost the government RM13.134bil.

“Subsidies for petroleum products recorded the highest expenditure amounting to RM45.184bil or 81.5% of the total expenditure,” the Auditor-General’s Report 2022 revealed.

In 2022, the government reported a total revenue of RM294.357bil against an expenditure of RM395.246bil, resulting in a deficit of RM99.48bil.

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The audit statement, which audited the Federal Government’s financial statement, said both revenue and expenditure in 2022 were higher than the previous year.

The government also managed to narrow its fiscal deficit to 5.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, compared to 6.4% in the previous year.

“The final budget approved for operating expenditures was RM236.966bil, while the actual operating expenditures incurred was RM292.693bil,” the report said.

“The Finance Ministry recorded the highest operating expenditure among ministries with RM120.174bil or 40.8% from the Federal Government’s total operating expenditure in 2022, (which is) an increase of RM47.125bil or 64.5% as compared to RM73.049bil in 2021,” it said.

The significant increase in subsidies bill led to the increase in the Finance Ministry’s expenditure.

Expenditure from the Covid-19 fund amounted to RM30.979bil in 2022. As at end of 2022, the accumulated expenditure from the Covid-19 fund totalled to RM106.70bil.

Federal debt stood at RM1.079 trillion in 2022, up from RM979.814bil in 2022. The debt to GDP ratio was at 60.3%.

Revenue from taxes contributed RM208.765bil to the government’s coffers while non-tax revenue accounted for 27.1% or RM5.296bil.